The Slumdog Millionaire actress talks about female characters, films and her new production venture

There is a recurring pattern in actress Freida Pinto‘s films and that is the presence of strong female characters. The Hollywood-based Indian actress says it’s the first thing that she considers while choosing films.Be it Slumdog Millionaire, Miral or her upcoming film Trishna- all the films have seen her playing such characters ”A strong female character is the most important thing that I look for in my films. Hence the bottom line is that every character I play needs to have a strong undertone,” Frieda told IANS in an interview.

She did pick up a film in which she couldn’t get the same satisfaction that she drew from her earlier films. ”I’m not going to mention the film’s name and I’m glad that most of the people didn’t see it. In the film, I did a role where I could not feel the strength of my character and it showed in my performance. Since then, I haven’t repeated that thing,” she added.

Freida, who gained global recognition after Oscar-winning Slumdog Millionaire, minces no words to declare the hype around objectification of women in Bollywood a hypocrisy. ”I have a problem with women being objectified on-screen. But I feel it’s also unfair that we only talk about women objectification as if it’s perfectly okay for men to be objectified,” said the actress while she was in Delhi to unveil the Girls Rising campaign in India.

“I feel there is a little bit of hypocrisy over there,” Freida added. She added that it’s not entirely the filmmakers’ fault as viewers should also understand that the artist is just playing a character on the screen. ”As filmmakers and artists, we should be responsible about the material we put out, but at the end of the day it’s very important for the viewers to understand that we are acting.

“I am not a stripper from the video I just did, it is my character. I feel if people are going to be so narrow-minded about believing that the character is an extension of me, then it defeats the purpose of films,” she said. The actress feels the line between commercial and serious cinema is fading. ”I don’t know what commercial films are in Bollywood because there are some art house films that I enjoyed and they became commercially viable,” said the 30-year-old.

Moving beyond acting, the actress has ventured on to the other side of film dom as a producer. The actress, who is at present producing two films, refrains from delving more into the projects. ”I am a kind of person who doesn’t talk about any film until it’s done. The same goes for the production ventures. I will not talk about the film I am producing till it’s done. I am producing two films. I can promise you that the films have strong female characters,” the actress said.

The two actresses launched a campaign for the education of girls

Story telling is one of the most important mediums to evoke a sense of responsibility towards the society. Keeping this thought in mind, Girl Rising, a global campaign for girls’ education, is set to engage kids through films. The intiative made its entry in India here Saturday (November 29).

The campaign encompasses storytelling to spread awareness of things girls can achieve if educated. To grab eyeballs, the campaign has roped in actresses Freida Pinto and Priyanka Chopra, who enjoys wide global fan base.

“We choose them as they are great performers, are passionate about the issue and platform and lastly when you have an issue like girls education it is important to have visible icons to carry the message,” co-founder and CEO Holly Gordon told in an interview before the official launch.

The campaign in India would be focused on getting more girls past Class 10, increasing secondary school completion rates for girls and reducing gender-based discrimination in India. The program includes film narrated by Priyanka, Freida and seven other Bollywood names, a mass media campaign and an aggressive grassroots campaign.

“The best thing it is universal in nature. It is not like the problem is only in India– yes there is– but it is a problem in other nations as well. It just took one phone call from me to other actress associated with the project for them to come on board. It proves another point as well that female actress gets along” said Priyanka.

Frieda plays an oppressed girl in Trishna, which is set to release in India in January 2015. The actress says the role helped her reinforce her belief in the cause.

“I always felt that it was calling in this area but the project made it more clearer. A part of my job is to research, for the role I met a lot of people, I went to several villages in Rajasthan. The things I saw is beyond your imagination.

“Girls getting married at the age of 13 and getting pregnant at 15… I mean you hardly get your period at that age. It opened doors for me,” said the Slumdog Millionaire actress.

United States Agency for International Development (USAID) has provided start-up funding for Girl Rising: ENGAGE INDIA (Empowering New Generations to Advance Girls’ Education), to bring Girl Rising to India.

As Indian sensibilities are different, the campaign has been tweaked a little bit. The film highlights the stories of nine girls, striving against difficult circumstance to achieve their dreams.

“The campaign will be partner-led. Our partner will tell what will work in India and how to go about it,” Holly said.

The official announcement was made at an event held in American Center, hosted by Chargé d’Affaires Ambassador Kathleen Stephens later in the evening.

Bohra Bros is credited with around 140 films, including national award-winning projects like Chittagong and Shahid. Now Sunil Bohra, whose latest offering is Mastram, is on a mission to touch the four-figure mark, keeping the brand’s philosophy of making films with honesty, intact

“Starting from my grandfather late Ram Bohra to my father Surendra Bohra and finally trickling down to me, we have made about 140 films so far. I propose to touch the four figure mark. That’s my mission statement for now,” said Sunil. The production banner is credited with titles like Baghdad Ka Chor, Al-Hilal, Hercules, Saajan Ka Ghar, Ek Hasina Thi, Tanu Weds Manu, Shaitan, Not a Love Story, Saheb Biwi Aur Gangster and Gangs of Wasseypur. The banner takes pride in being active in regional cinema too with 52 Gujarati films, two Rajasthani films, one Punjabi and Marathi film each to its credit.

Hollywood alliances too are on the wish list. “We have taken the first step in this direction, our film Trishna featuring Frieda Pinto is a Micheal Winterbottom film. Its trailer will be attached with Mastram. It’s too early to talk about alliances with other such entities but we are exploring alliances with a few,” he said.

Bohra Bros focuses on small films with good content. Sunil says the strategy of backing small but high-on-content films was decided for Bohra Bros by destiny. ”Right from the inception of Bohra Bros, for some strange reason, the so-called big stars did not take us seriously and after some time we too stopped taking them seriously. Thus my grandfather, late Ram Bohra made films that didn’t feature superstars, but these films hit the theatres on the same on Friday with films boasting of big stars and the junta (audience) appreciated them,” he said.

Experimentation has been key for the Bohra Bros and it is clearly visible in films as different as Shahid, a biographical film based on the life of lawyer and human rights activist Shahid Azmi who was assassinated in 2010 in Mumbai and the forthcoming Mastram about a porn writer from the country’s northern part. Sunil said: “I agree both the films are poles apart but there is one thing common in both the films – honesty with which the films have been made.” Mastram is due to release May 9.

There’s drama, thrill and erotica uninhibited in its trailer. Sunil agrees footfalls for the movie in tier-II and tier-III cities will be more but he is confident the entertainer will appeal to the multiplex audience too. “In my humble opinion, Mastram will appeal to all those who like good cinema. Though footfalls will be higher in tier-II and tier-III cities. I would like to draw your attention to the fact that Mastram was screened at the Mumbai Film Festival (organised by Mumbai Academy of Moving Image). Both the shows were houseful and people were asking for more. Going by this, I assume that multiplex audience will also lap the film,” Sunil said.

The saucy trailer, which has over 170,000 hits on YouTube, discourages “haters, hypocrites and under 16″ from watching the Akhilesh Jaiswal-directed film as it is not “advised, recommended and permitted” for them. Nevertheless, distributors from different territories have predicted the fictional biographical account will start a new chapter in the filmmaking business. Talking about how the “life blood of internet, booster of the sexually frustrated and the secret folder of your computer” came alive in the form of a feature film, Sunil said: “I was aware of Mastram, but honestly did not think about making a film (on the subject). Director Akhilesh Jaiswal shared the idea with me and I jumped at the proposal. Even today people don’t know much about Mastram, mainly the internet generation, so when Akhilesh broached the subject, I too got kicked to know more about the phenomenon called Mastram and the ball started rolling.”

The movie is sans any big names – it features Rahul Bagga in the title role and newcomer Tasha Berry who plays his wife. Apart from Mastram, in 2014 the banner has an interesting line up – Jia o Jia, featuring Richa Chadha and Kalki Koechlin, Ganglords of 1985 featuring Vivaan Shah and Monica Dogra along with an ensemble cast of 85 talented actors, Akki Teh Vikki Teh Nikki, directorial debut of actor Vipin Sharma of Taare Zameen Par fame.

The Slumdog Millioaire babe turns 29 today and with every passing year, the dusky beauty is getting sexier

Born on October 18, 1984, Freida Pinto caught the fancy of the western world, especially Americans with her debut film Slumdog Millionaire. The Academy Award wining movie gave Freida international limelight and incredible popularity. Originally from Mumbai, Freida is a Mangalorean Catholic. Her mother is the principal of St. John’s High School and her father is the senior manager with Bank of Baroda. Before breaking into the world of movies, Freida was a model and faced many rejections. It was Danny Boyle who gave Freida the golden opportunity with his movie Slumdog Millionairethat made her an international sensation.

She also bagged one of the most beautiful people title by People magazine and also made into the world’s most beautifully dressed women list. Later in her career, she went on to work in movies such as You Will Meet a Tall Dark Strangers, Miral, Rise of the Planet Apes, Immortals and Day of the Falcon. Most of these projects opened to negative reviews. In 2012 she Michael Winterbottom’s British drama Trishna that got the dusky beauty back into the reckoning.

Recently she was seen in Bruno Mars’ club number Gorilla. In the video, Freida featured as a sexy pole dancer and showed off her dusky lithe body. The Mumbai gal is getting seriously sexy with her performances and pushing the envelope with her daredevil streak and her panache. We wish the star on her special day. You too can send in your wishes!

The Jism 2 babe is all set to rock the awards ceremony on October 23 with her ‘exceptional’ talent

We wonder what it is about Sunny Leone that makes her the perfect person to host the first ever South Asian Rising Star Film Awards to be held in New York on October 23. The porn star-turned-Bollywood sensation doesn’t quite have the gift of the gab, not that we know of, at least. After all, we have seen enough of Sunny in the reality show Bigg Boss last year, when she was present in the house as a contestant. Sunny was not particularly good at vocalising her feelings. Neither did she know how to play with words. Even our Rakhi Sawant could give the Canadian import a run for her well-earned dollars with her infamous blabber. Why then has the Jism 2 actor been roped in? She will be flown to New York to host an entire awards function with Jay Chandrasekhar, Indian-American director of slapstick comedies such as Super Troopers, The Dukes of Hazzard and Beerfest.

We hear that the event will be followed by the ninth edition of the South Asian International Film Festival (SAIFF), to be held October 24-30. Many Bollywood films are in the race to win the main prize in this one. Anurag Kashyap’s Gangs Of Wasseypur has bagged the highest number of nominations. Shoojit Sircar’s Vicky Donor and Abhinay Deo’s Delhi Belly are also in the race. Bangalore based band Swarathma, which is very popular for its fine music, has been nominated in the Best Composer category for work in indie filmmaker Srinivasan Sunderrajan’s Greater Elephant. Sneha Khanwalkar (Gangs of Wasseypur), Ram Sampath (Delhi Belly) and Amit Trivedi (Trishna) have also been listed in the prestigious nominations for their commendable music compositions.

But the porn..err..star-attraction of the show will undoubtedly be Sunny Leone! The seductress will steal all the thunder with her unique assets, for sure. By that we mean her sparkling presence, of course – what did you think! Right, Sunny?

The Slumdog Millionaire actor is apprehensive of showing her wild love making scenes with actor Riz Ahmed to her fans in the home country

Frieda Pinto is nervous these days. The dusky beauty, who became the face of Indian cinema on the international map after her Academy Award-winning film Slumdog Millionaire, is facing a strange dilemma. The 28-year-old actor has been receiving praise for her restrained performance in Michael Winterbottom’s film Trishna. But Frieda is not sure how the bold content of the film will be received in India.

In the trailer of Trishna we see Freida and Pakistani actor Riz Ahmed going all out, displaying the brutality of wild, passionate lovemaking that is rarely portrayed on celluloid. We see the two actors tearing each others’ clothes and showing lust absolutely unabashedly. So graphic are these scenes that Frieda is anxious about the film’s India release.

We hear that the producers of the movie have now decided to release two different versions – in Hindi and in English – for the Indian censor board. Apparently the Hindi version will be a toned down edition of the film in which most of the sex scenes will be diluted. The steamy scenes, we hear, will be retained in the English edition.

We present to you some of the controversial scenes from the movie. You tell us if they are too hot to handle!

Hollywood’s ‘exotic Indian beauty’ Freida Pinto talks about the challenges while shooting for her latest release, Michael Winterbottom’s Trishna

Freida Pinto, who became an overnight celebrity after the multiple-Oscar winning Slumdog Millionaire, views her new film Trishnaas a “very beautiful and yet tragic” tale of a village girl torn between her traditional upbringing and the dreams of a girl from modern India. Based on Thomas Hardy’s classic Tess of the d’Urbervilles, British filmmaker Michael Winterbottom’s newest film is set in rural Rajasthan. It has Pinto playing the title role of Trishna, an auto-rickshaw driver’s daughter who falls for a rich boy.

“I guess the journey is very beautiful and at the same time very tragic,” she says, “because it goes from being really innocent to being in a situation of almost desperation and finally to redemption. “It’s quite an intense journey for one girl to go through,” said Pinto over phone from New York, where she arrived for the red carpet premiere of the film at the IFC Centre in Manhattan earlier last week.

She felt Trishna was a tough role to play “because it’s so different from what I am in real life.” Pinto has a very outspoken personality and “just can’t kind of lay back and just get bombarded with things that I don’t believe in”. So I guess that was really hard for me, especially because we didn’t really have a solid script,” she said. “Every time, I would try to say something or speak out against something, Michael would just say, ‘No, you don’t say anything in this situation. Just observe’. Now as an actor who is very outspoken, it was very tough and again such a welcome challenge,” said Pinto, who “would love to be something like that again,” she added.

To prepare for her role, Freida spent some time in Rajasthan’s Osian village in a family setting and interviewed a number of girls who worked at hotels and one who worked as ground staff in an airline. “It was very interesting that all the stories were different from the other, but the bottom line came down to ‘whatever dad thinks is probably right and we’ll just follow that or whatever our future husband thinks is right is going to be our life from then on’. And that for me was the startling reality that I had to just come to terms with to understand my character better,” Pinto said.

Pinto, who came to limelight with her very first film, Danny Boyle’s Slumdog Millionaire, considers both Boyle and Winterbottom as “absolutely amazing filmmakers” with definitely different working styles. For one Slumdog… and Trishna are “very completely different films”, Pinto said. “Slumdog… is a love story that has a beautiful message of hope at the end of it. And the other one is a tragic love story which can be very sad.”

Also, while she had a detailed script for Slumdog Millionaire, “as far as Trishna went, all the experience I had gathered was going to be put to the test with Michael because we did not have a solid script and I had to really let go if I had any kind of inhibitions.”

Pinto thinks her co-star Anurag Kashyap, who has made a mark for himself in Indian cinema as a brilliant director, is a “really good” actor too. “I think, yeah, if he gives acting a shot, he will be pretty good.” She hopes some day she’ll get a chance to work with Kashyap “because he is such an eclectic filmmaker, who is not afraid to take challenges upon himself and is so brave”.

Asked if she feared being typed as an ‘exotic Indian beauty’ by Hollywood, Pinto said, “I am not afraid of that any more because I have made sure people don’t look at me like that.”

And does Bollywood have anything to offer her? “Well, when people use the term ‘Bollywood’, I hope they are including Anurag Kashyap, Dibakar Banerjee and all these wonderful filmmakers as well because definitely I would love to work with them,” said Pinto, adding: “Why not?”

Although she lives in Los Angeles these days for convenience’s sake, Mumbai will always be number one for Pinto because “it has made me the person I am today – very outspoken”. “Oh, my god, there is no comparison. Mumbai is Mumbai,” she signs off.

]]>http://www.bollywoodlife.com/news-gossip/did-trishna-director-make-life-difficult-for-freida-pinto/feed/1Freida Pinto signs a love story with a BAFTA-winning directorhttp://www.bollywoodlife.com/news-gossip/freida-pinto-signs-a-love-story-with-a-bafta-winning-director/
http://www.bollywoodlife.com/news-gossip/freida-pinto-signs-a-love-story-with-a-bafta-winning-director/#commentsWed, 16 May 2012 14:30:00 +0000BollywoodLifehttp://www.bollywoodlife.com/?p=105952

The India-born and brought up actor is slowly and steadily cementing her filmi career in the international space

Slumdog Millionaire babe Freida Pinto has grabbed a role in BAFTA winning documentary director Nick Broomfield’s The Catastrophist. It’s a Belgian Congo-set love story between a jaded writer and an idealistic journalist that also stars UK’s popular face from television, Dan Stevens, and singer/actor, K’Naan.

This development means that any speculation that the actor – who grew up in a suburb of Mumbai, and revelled in the limelight conferred on her internationally after the success of Danny Boyle’s Slumdog Millionaire – would eventually return to Bollywood is just a whisper in the air. Freida is clearly doing a lot more than just looking pretty in couture designs on red carpets and aims to push the envelope beyond the conventional shaking booty in Hindi films. She is turning out to be quite an interesting actor, with a laudable body of work.

After SM, instead of doing wee bit roles in Hollywood biggies, Freida chose films that were made by serious names in the business of cinema. Like Woody Allen’s typical relationship film, You Will Meet A Tall Dark Stranger, the Palestinian political drama Miral, Hollywood’ sci-fi Rise Of The Planets Of The Apes with current international heartthrob James Franco, Michael Winterbottom’s Trishna, Arab-set Black Gold and the fantasy drama Immortals.

His directorial, Gangs of Wasseypur, has been selected for the Directors’ Fortnight and his production, Peddlers, will be a part of the Cannes Critics Week

When it rains, it pours. And Anurag Kashyap is all set to reign over the prestigious Cannes film festival this May. His latest film as director, Gangs of Wasseypur, an epic tale of generational feud set against the backdrop of northern India’s coal-stained badlands, has been selected for the Directors’ Fortnight strand of the festival. The film stars Manoj Bajpayee and the new Irrfan, Nawazuddin Siddiqui. Anurag will also be thrilled that Peddlers, a film that’s a searing look at the new Mumbai of today, has been chosen for Cannes Critics Week. It is produced by Anurag’s company and is directed by Vasan Bala, who assisted him on Gulaal and Dev.D and was associate director on Michael Winterbottom’s Trishna. Up and comers Gulshan Deviah (Hate Story), Kriti Malhotra (Dhobi Ghat) and director-turned-actor Nishikant Kamat (404) star.

It’s going to be the year of Nawazuddin Siddiqui. Besides Wasseypur, he also stars in Cannes selection Miss Lovely. Yes, this is a bumper year for India with three titles in. Directed by Ashim Ahluwalia (John and Jane), Miss Lovely follows a pair of brothers as they make third-rate horror/porn in ’80s Mumbai. Siqqidui plays one of the brothers.

In the midst of all the Cannes euphoria, let’s not forget to pay tribute to one of the pioneers of Indian cinema, Maliampurackal Chacko Punnoose, popularly known as Navodaya Appachan who succumbed to cancer at 88. Appachan founded the Navodaya Studios. He produced south India’s first 70mm film, Padayottam, a The Count of Monte Cristo adaptation with the dream Malayalam cast of Prem Nazir, Madhu, Mammootty and Mohan Lal. Appachan also made Thacholi Ambu, south India’s first cinemascope film, starring another dream cast of Prem Nazir, Sivaji Ganesan and Jayan. But Appachan is best remembered for India’s first ever 3D film My Dear Kuttichathan, dubbed into Hindi as Chhota Chetan. Encomiums are pouring in. Sadly, Navodaya ceased operating after the Kamal Haasan and Jayaram-starrer Chanakyan, directed by TK Rajeev Kumar. “I was asked to meet him after ad filmmaker Mathew Paul told him about my mono act performance at Muhamma, Alappuzha. If the meeting itself was a miracle, there was a bigger miracle in waiting. He handed over to me the glasses for three-dimensional cinema. Thus I started as an assistant to Jijo in My Dear Kuttichathan, India’s first 3D film. He was brave enough to give me a film with a novel subject and Kamal Haasan, five years later, ” Rajeev Kumar said. We salute the dearly departed man who has given joy to millions across India and was a towering figure in the south Indian film industry.

Abhishek Bachchan will inaugurate the festival and Sanjay Leela Bhansali will be awarded

The 14th London Asian Film Festival will be held from March 16 to 24, 2012, and Anurag Kashyap’s production Michael starring Naseeruddin Shah and Mahie Gill will kick off the fest on the opening night. Bollywood veteran Shah plays the main role of police officer Michael who inadvertently kills a 12-year-old boy during a shootout. Guilty, he turns into depression and loses his job. But to take care of his own son, he joins the Bollywood DVD piracy trade. The twist comes when Michael begins to get calls from the father of the boy he killed, threatening to do away with Michael’s son.

Also, Abhishek Bachchan will be carrying out an acting masterclass at the Mayfair Hotel on March 17. Michael Winterbottom’s Trishna will be screened at Apollo Piccadilly on March 17 and the star of the film, Frieda Pinto is likely to attend. The fest’s annual short film competition will also take place on the same day and at the same venue. Lucky, a ‘feature film borne out of a short film’ by Avie Luthra will be showcased.

Actor Humaima Malik will be attending Q&A session post the screening of her Pakistani film Bol on March 18.

The festival has also invited director Sanjay Leela Bhansali to deliver the Nargis Dutt lecture at the University of Westminster on March 22. His films Black and Guzaarish will be screened and he will be awarded on the closing night (March 24) in recognition for his work on disability in film.